End of the line
Chapter 2 end of the line
At the end of my time as a state Alchemist I thought back on what I had accomplished.
("Hello FullMetal, I'm the Hailstorm Alchemist. Nice to meet you.)
The friends I made.
(The circle in my gloved hand lights up as dozens of needles of ice pierce its cursed body.)
The battles I fought day in and day out.
("Congratulations, Führer Mustang.")
Overthrowing the corrupt regime.
Truly I had accomplished great deeds by the standards of mortals.
"So Roy, I retire. Here's my watch." The black haired man looks at me in shock.
"No, Marcus keep the watch, you can retire but you've more than earned your retirement and the watch, what you did is stunning, you saved my life and the lives of hundreds, I'm proud I got to call you my comrade even for such a short time." Tears drip from my eyes.
"Thank you Führer, your words grace me, I think a simple life suits me more. Perhaps I can start a repair shop, I already know I'm making a library" I ponder aloud. Mustang grabs my shoulder.
I stand at attention and give him one final salute.
"Before you go, here." Mustang hands me his glove with his circle on it. "You've accomplished a great deal, this is your reward, do put it in your library for me." With those words he pulls out a folder. "These are the notes, guard them with your life." I grin and walk out the door.
(Years later)
"Chill out would you Ed, it's not that big a deal!" I yell out as Ed panics.
"It's a big deal Marc, it's an engagement ring." I cringe as his voice cracks.
I walk over to my desk and rummage around. There I find the circles. One for silver and one for diamond. I pull out the materials and with a flash of lighting in my hand is a ring.
"Here Ed, this was along the line of what you wanted right?" The blonde smiles gleefully.
"You saved me, ohhhhh, thank you so much!" With those words Ed walks out of my shop.
As soon as he leaves I use my alchemy to make a hatch to my underground experiment room.
"Now, what to test next?" Suddenly an idea pops into my head. What if I just condense the matter into something more compact, it's been done before but what about taking it to the next level?
I use my power to conjure some water. Then with my alchemy I freeze it and condense the 4 by 4 foot block of ice into a dagger. I pick it up and my hand grows numb. With that I slam it into the wall, the stone parts like water.
"Oh, that's probably not good." With that I grab some ink and paper and use alchemy to make some notes. Suddenly with a bit of leather and metal the notes become bound like a book.
"Well, to the forbidden shelf I go." With determination in my posture I walk through the underground tunnels, going room to room. Suddenly I arrive at my destination, an office. In the corner is a bookshelf made of stone. It has books on the dangerous but simple alchemy and some history. I carefully walk up to it and then measure four steps to the right.
I press my hand on the wall and suddenly with a flash of light the stone wall turns into a doorway.
Instead is a massive library filled with tomes on the arts of alchemy beyond that of a beginner. The most comprehensive collection of Alchemy and Alkahestry knowledge in the world. Not all of it is my own research but all of it was collected by me. In the very back sits a desk with a locked cabinet made of wood on the wall above it. Out of my pocket I pull a golden key, with that I stick it in the lock and pull open the cabinet. The books are all my own, the research made by me, far too dangerous to leave laying around. I set the book on the shelf and left the library.
With that task done I closed the door and pulled out a lighter. With a flick of the lighter and the telltale lighting of alchemy the logs in the fireplace in the office light ablaze. Much better.
With that my collection has grown. Suddenly I get the urge to share, and for the first time it gets the better of me, I can no longer force myself to keep this place a secret. The library is full of dangerous knowledge, the only alchemy knowledge I gathered that's not in it is on flame alchemy. I made my choice.
(2 hours later.)
"Alphonse, I have something to show you." I say in barely disguised glee.
The blonde looks at me questioningly. Then he looks to his brother.
"Oh Ed can come too, it's just that he won't have any use of it, he might enjoy the reading though."
Suddenly Al's eyes light up. "Did you make a library on alchemy?" The blonde grabs my shoulders, even Ed who was sitting in the corner drinking a beer while reading a novel looks over.
I nod in glee as I explain. "I have been making a collection ever since I retired, book after book, both books by me and others never before shared research is in there and you must be careful do you understand?"
The blondes nod seriously before I say "follow me to my shop." Ed looks at me in confusion but follows along away. With a short hike we reached my shop. With a stomp of my foot the floor once again turns into a hatch.
Ed gaps in shock and mock horror. "You had an underground Bunker this entire time!" I grin playfully.
"An old man like me is entitled to his secrets."
Alphonse groans in annoyance. "You're only 42 Marcus." I grin cheerily.
"That's still far older than you are." The blonde shrugs his shoulders.
I climb down the ladder and lead them through the tunnels, giving them a tour of every room until we reach the office.
"What's next, you gonna make a secret doorway to a massive library or something?" I nod solemnly.
Ed calls out "wait what, I was joking, just this shelf alone is filled with dangerous alchemy, simple sure but still top end stuff, you couldn't possibly have more." I step up to the shelf and once again measure four steps, once again the doorway appears with the light of alchemy.
Suddenly Ed bursts into tears and shouts.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD, HOW COULD YOU KEEP THIS FROM US." Alphonse pats his back.
"Brother calm down, it might be later then I'd like but he's still showing it to us." A laugh slips from my throat.
"Alright boys, you're free to read everything in here but be careful around what's in that cabinet." Suddenly Alphonse gets a glint in his eyes.
"What's in the cabinet Mr. Peverell?" He asks politely, but even I can tell he's planning something.
"Dangerous alchemy, it's got the secrets of my Ice alchemy and a bunch of other stuff. Including human Transmutation, though there are no circles in those books, they simply document the process and result." Ed grows pale and Alphonse shivers.
"I must say there is an Alchemy that is not documented in the library."
"Oh?" Ed nods, curiosity clear in his eyes.
"Mustang gave me the notes on flame alchemy. Said he could trust me with them but to be careful. He is the only person alive who knows about this other than you." Those are actually in the library but they're in English and in a code I made myself. In Fact a the super secret stuff is in code and languages not used here.
I lead them over to a shelf marked with the "Spiral", the basis of Uzumaki Fuinjutsu. It only has 20 books on it.
"This book is right here, this is flame alchemy." Suddenly Alphonse rips it off the shelf and opens it, to him it surely looks like an incomprehensible mess.
"Not that you can understand it with a two layer security. It's in a language only I know, it's also Encoded." I Suddenly waved my hand at the shelf.
"All of the books on this shelf are like that, all 20 of them. I'm sure you were wondering why this shelf was so empty." Alphonse turns sickly.
"You mean all twenty of them are as dangerous as flame alchemy?" I nod gravely.
"If not more so, I even have how to make lighting in this book here." I say as I point at a book with a cover covered in blue velvet.
Suddenly Edward, who had wandered off, yells in glee. "You even have Alkahestry!"
"Alphonse, this entire collection is willed to the Elric family. I have 20 books to give you, each of them is a dictionary in one of the languages used to keep the books safe." Perhaps he can make use of them for the betterment of the world. But it's my time to go.
I grab Alphonse's hand and lead him to the desk with the cabinet above it. On the desk are 21 books.
"I have in my time alive made much alchemy and many languages. The book on the far right Is in a language not used, it is for you to use as you see fit, whether it's Encoding letters or alchemy research of your own. This is my goodbye to you Elric." I quickly run out of the library and rush up the ladder, I run faster than normal humans, faster than the fastest of humans if only by a bit. I run for hours each. It takes me days but I finally reach Central.
I walk through the winding streets until I reach a house, the place where the people most important to me in this world reside, I knock on the door. Suddenly it opens up. I noticeably older Hughes is behind it.
"Hughes, I have a gift for you, I'm leaving soon, for good this time and I wanted to show you my gratitude for one last time, for everything you've done for me." Out of my pocket I pull out three things, a bag of diamonds and gold, my watch and finally a gun made by me.
"This gun is the best gun this world will see for decades, the bullets are the best of the best made by me. Use it to protect yourself and your family. I'll miss you brother." Hughes' eyes start to water.
"Marcus, I have something for you too, I knew this day would come, I just didn't think it would be so soon." The gray haired man hands me a book of photos and letters. All the correspondence I've had with this family is in the book, also in it are hundreds of photos of us, of me and The Hughes family together.
I give the man a hug and give my last words in this life as I walk off. "Tell Gracia to take care of herself for me, Elicia too brother." With that I walk off behind the corner and disappear. My body becomes nothing but dust in the wind.
I appear back in my underworld office with the book in hand. I carefully set the book of memories on the shelf behind me, it's only the third book on the shelf. Even after centuries going through worlds I only have so many valuables, this is one of them. I hope to make many more memories and keepsakes in the future.
Perhaps after a few more centuries the office will be filled with artifacts of my travels, until then, this will do.